Attenuated Mannheimia haemolytica Vaccines and Methods of Making and Use

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides attenuated  M. haemolitica  strains that elicit an immune response in animal against  M. haemolitica , compositions comprising said strains, methods of vaccination against  M. haemolitica , and kits for use with such methods and compositions. The invention further provides multi-valent vaccines, which provide protective immunity when administered in an effective amount to animals susceptible to “shipping fever” or bovine respiratory disease.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/723,979, filed on Nov. 8, 2012, and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to attenuated bacterial vaccines, particularly those providing broad, safe, and effective protection to production animals against infections/disease caused by gram-negative bacteria, including Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica. The invention further relates to methods of producing the attenuated bacteria, and to PCR methods for differentiating among M. haemolitica serotypes A1 and A6, in vivo.

The invention accordingly relates to immunogenic or vaccine compositions comprising the bacteria of the invention; e.g., live attenuated bacteria. The bacteria also could be inactivated in the compositions, but it may be advantageous that the bacteria are live attenuated M. haemolytica bacteria, either alone, or combined with other bacteria such as Haemophilus Somnus and/or Pasteurella Multocida. The invention therefore further relates to methods for preparing and/or formulating such compositions; e.g., culturing or growing or propagating the bacteria on or in suitable medium, harvesting the bacteria, optionally inactivating the bacteria, and optionally admixing the bacteria with a suitable veterinarily or pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, excipient, diluent or vehicle and/or an adjuvant and/or stabilizer. Thus, the invention also relates to the use of the bacteria in formulating such compositions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

M. haemolytica is a gram negative bacterium normally found in the upper respiratory tract of healthy cattle, sheep and wild sheep. M. haemolytica descends into the lungs when cattle experience stress such as shipping, weaning, overcrowding, or viral infections and causes fibrinous and necrotizing bronchopneumonia, a chief component of the bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC). Economic losses due to BRDC in North America is >$1 billion annually (Bowland and Shewen, 2000). M. haemolytica is the bacterium most commonly isolated from the lungs of cattle affected with BRDC. M. haemolytica serotype A1 is responsible for approximately 60% of shipping fever, whereas serotypes A6 and A2 account for 26% and 7% respectively (Al-Ghamdi et al., 2000; Purdy et al., 1997). Both M. haemolytica A1 and A6 account for >85% of BRDC cases involving bacterial pathogens.

The vaccines currently available in the market against M. haemolytica infections are only moderately protective against shipping fever of beef cattle but generally ineffective against neonatal dairy calf pneumonia (Virtala et al., 1996; Rice et al., 2007). The major cause of severe bacterial pneumonia in feedlot and neonatal dairy cattle is M. haemolytica serotype A1 followed by serotype A6 (Schreuer et al., 2000, Rice et al., 2007).

Experimental evaluation of all the commercial M. haemolytica A1 vaccines used in feedlot showed only partial protection in 50% of the studies (Perino and Hunsaker, 1997). Furthermore, cross-protection against M. haemolytica serotypes (either A6 or A2) has been difficult to achieve using conventional vaccine preparations (Purdy et al., 1993; Sabri et al., 2000). Therefore, an efficacious vaccine against M. haemolytica serotypes A1 and A6 could significantly improve dairy/beef production.

Effective immunity against M. haemolytica is multifaceted. Neutralizing Antibodies against exotoxin leukotoxin A (LktA) and surface antigens are necessary for protective immunity against M. haemolytica (Shewen and Wilkie, 1988). Due to the complex genetic machinery involved in controlling the expression of various M. haemolytica virulence factors, the specific surface antigens that are important in stimulating immunity have not been clearly determined (Lawrence et al, 2010). However, M. haemolytica outer membrane proteins (OMPs) have been implicated in stimulating immunity against surface antigens (Confer et al., 2003, Morton et al., 1995; Potter et al., 1999).

Intranasal immunization of cattle has been pursued for a while using bovine herpesvirus-1 (BoHV-1), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBR) (Ellis et al., 2007; Muylkens et al., 2007). Commercially available Pfizer's INFORCE 3 when administered intranasally claims to prevent BRSV and also aids in the prevention of respiratory disease caused by IBR and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (PI3).

In an experimental study when a modified live leukotoxin deficient M. haemolytica mutant was administered intranasally in weaned beef feedlot calves, it resulted in reduced nasopharyngeal colonization with wild type M. haemolytica compared to non-vaccinated control calves (Frank et al., 2003). Although intranasal vaccination and leukotoxin deficient M. haemolytica are known, inventors are aware of no M. haemolytica vaccines successfully combining these concepts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present disclosure is to provide effective vaccines comprising attenuated M. haemolytica serotypes A1 & A6. Relative to a parent M. haemolytica serotype A1 or A6 strain, the attenuated strains may have genomic modifications, including deletions, substitutions, and additions, and whose presence (or absence) is associated with reduced virulence. In an embodiment, a wildtype M. haemolytica (serotype A1 D153) may be modified to contain a partial gene deletion of the leukotoxin CA (lktCA) genomic locus, resulting in an attenuated bacterium, which secretes a truncated, noncytotoxic form of LktA protein. The vaccines ideally provide safe, effective, and broad protective immunity.

Another object of the disclosure is to provide multi-valent vaccines, comprising the attenuated M. haemolytica in combination with other bacteria, including P. multocida, M. haemolytica serotype A6, and Histophilus somni (H. Somni). Thus, the invention encompasses a 4-way avirulent, modified live vaccine useful against bovine respiratory disease.

A further object of this invention is to provide methods for treatment and prophylaxis of infection bovine respiratory disease, comprising the steps of administering effective amounts of the inventive vaccines to susceptible bovine animals.

In one embodiment, the attenuated vaccines further comprises an adjuvant. The adjuvant may be any substance which increases and/or augments the elicited immune response, as compared to attenuated vaccine alone. Mucosal adjuvants, including chitosans and derivatives thereof, are particularly useful for the disclosed oral attenuated vaccines.

The invention further provides methods for inducing an immunological (or immunogenic) or protective response against M. haemolytica, as well as methods for preventing or treating M. haemolytica, or disease state(s) caused by M. haemolytica, comprising administering the attenuated bacteria, or a composition comprising the attenuated bacteria to animals in need thereof.

In addition, the disclosure provides PCR methods and reagents useful for diagnosing and/or discriminating between M. haemolytica serotypes A1 and A6. Comparative genomic sequence analysis, further described below, revealed A1- and A6-specific genes, which provide the basis for the methods and reagents provided in this disclosure.

Kits comprising at least the attenuated M. haemolytica strain and instructions for use are also provided.

These and other embodiments are disclosed or are obvious from and encompassed by, the following Detailed Description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth more particularly in the remainder of the specification, including reference to the accompanying figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 presents the scheme used to produce the pCT109GA189ΔlktCA-Kan plasmid (replacement plasmid). The final product for vaccine manufacture incorporated a consensus ribosome-binding site (AGGAGG, rbs) upstream of the start codon which replaced the poor lktC rbs and increased expression of leukotoxoid. The native lktA gene, deleted in the vaccine strain, uses a strong rbs (AGGAGA). For this product, lktRBSr primer was used in-lieu of lktCAdelr primer. The consensus site is underlined;

FIG. 2 illustrates integration of the replacement plasmid into the bacterial genome;

FIG. 3 depicts resolution/excision of the replacement plasmid, leaving behind only the desired ΔlktCA sequence, stably integrated into the bacterial genome, and encoding the truncated LktA protein;

FIG. 4A agarose gel electrophoresis of PCR products from M. haemolytica LktCABD operon showing truncated LktCA (lane 2) and wildtype LktCA (lane 3);

FIG. 4B Western blot analysis of truncated LktA expressed by M. haemolytica D153Δ-1-PKL, vaccine strain. Lanes: 1—marker; 2—5 μl of culture supernatant containing truncated LktA (*=27 kDa, M. haemolytica D153Δ-1-PKL); 3—5 μl of culture supernatant containing wildtype LktA (*=102 kDa, M. haemolytica D153 parent strain);

FIG. 5 is a Venn diagram representing the unique and overlapping genes present in five M. haemolytica isolates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a M. haemolytica vaccine or composition which may comprise an attenuated M. haemolytica strain and a pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable carrier, excipient, or vehicle, which elicits, induces or stimulates a response in an animal.

In order to develop an effective M. haemolytica intranasal vaccine, which protects bovines against serogroups A1/A6, inventors used M. haemolytica having a partially deleted LktA gene. This bacterium does not cause cytolysis, but is able to elicit neutralizing antibodies. Prior to the instant disclosure, it was not known whether intranasal administration (or administration via any route) would elicit in bovines a protective immune response.

Although there are serological methods to distinguish M. haemolytica A1 and A6 these methods are not always reliable and developing strong antisera against A6 is particularly difficult. To overcome this problem, inventors sequenced both A1 and A6 genomes, performed a comparative genomic analysis and developed a real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-QPCR) method to distinguish between A1 and A6 field isolates and to track our intranasal vaccine combination (M. haemolytica, M. somnus, and P. multocida).

Thus, an embodiment of this disclosure provides useful RT-QPCR methods, which enable at least the following activities: a) identification of field isolates of M. haemolytica A1 and A6 quickly and screen large number of colonies; b) monitoring of vaccination/colonization of A1 and A6 in nasal cavities; c) elimination of the need for developing high titer antisera; and d) development of rapid, automated diagnostic test kits.

The present invention further provides attenuated M. haemolytica strains having a deletion in at least one virulence gene. In an embodiment, the deletion is within LktCA, a locus that encodes an enzyme acylase (LktC) and leukotoxin A (LktA), the chief cytotoxin. This deletion may be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the secretion of a truncated LktA can be detected on a Western blot to determine if the bacterium is the mutant or wildtype.

Deletion of genomic sequence(s) from virulent parental bacteria to produce avirulent, attenuated mutant bacteria is accomplished through novel and non-obvious inventive activity. Such mutant bacteria, also referred to herein as modified-live microorganisms (MLM) are useful for the production of immunogenic compositions or vaccines having both a high degree of immunogenicity and a low (to non-existent) degree of pathogenicity.

These mutants are also useful as vectors which can be useful for expression in vitro of expression products, as well as for reproduction or replication of nucleotide sequences (e.g., replication of DNA), and for in vivo expression products.

Engineering of the deletion mutations provides novel and nonobvious nucleotide sequences and genes, as well as novel and nonobvious gene products encoded by the nucleotide sequences and genes. Such gene products provide antigens, immunogens and epitopes, and are useful as isolated gene products. Such isolated gene products, as well as epitopes thereof, are also useful for generating antibodies, which are useful in diagnostic applications.

Such gene products, which can provide or generate epitopes, antigens or immunogens, are also useful for immunogenic or immunological compositions, as well as vaccines.

In an aspect, the invention provides bacteria containing an attenuating mutation in a nucleotide sequence or a gene wherein the mutation modifies, reduces or abolishes the expression and/or the biological activity of a polypeptide or protein encoded by a gene, resulting in attenuated virulence of the bacterium. In a particular embodiment, the mutation is an in-frame deletion resulting in the bacterium secreting a truncated leukotoxin. In a particular embodiment, the truncated leukotoxin migrates at about 27 kD on a typical SDS gel.

Attenuation reduces or abolishes the pathogenicity of the bacteria and the gravity of the clinical signs or lesions, decreases the growth rate of the bacteria, and prevents the death from the bacteria.

In particular, the present invention encompasses attenuated M. haemolytica strains and vaccines comprising the same, which elicit an immunogenic response in an animal, particularly the attenuated M. haemolytica strains that elicit, induce or stimulate a response in a bovine.

Particular M. haemolytica attenuated strains of interest have mutations in genes, relative to wild type virulent parent strain, which are associated with virulence. It is recognized that, in addition to strains having the disclosed mutations, attenuated strains having any number of mutations in the disclosed virulence genes can be used in the practice of this invention.

In another aspect, the novel attenuated M. haemolytica strains are formulated into safe, effective vaccine against M. haemolytica and infections/diseases cause by M. haemolytica.

In an embodiment, the M. haemolytica vaccines further comprise an adjuvant. In a particular embodiment, the adjuvant is a mucosal adjuvant, such as chitosan, methylated chitosan, trimethylated chitosan, or derivatives or combinations thereof.

As defined herein, the term “gene” will be used in a broad sense, and shall encompass both coding and non-coding sequences (i.e. upstream and downstream regulatory sequences, promoters, 5′/3′ UTR, introns, and exons). Where reference to only a gene's coding sequence is intended, the term “gene's coding sequence” or “CDS” will be used interchangeably throughout this disclosure.

By “antigen” or “immunogen” means a substance that induces a specific immune response in a host animal. The antigen may comprise a whole organism, killed, attenuated or live; a subunit or portion of an organism; a recombinant vector containing an insert with immunogenic properties; a piece or fragment of DNA capable of inducing an immune response upon presentation to a host animal; a polypeptide, an epitope, a hapten, or any combination thereof. Alternately, the immunogen or antigen may comprise a toxin or antitoxin.

The terms “protein”, “peptide”, “polypeptide” and “polypeptide fragment” are used interchangeably herein to refer to polymers of amino acid residues of any length. The polymer can be linear or branched, it may comprise modified amino acids or amino acid analogs, and it may be interrupted by chemical moieties other than amino acids. The terms also encompass an amino acid polymer that has been modified naturally or by intervention; for example disulfide bond formation, glycosylation, lipidation, acetylation, phosphorylation, or any other manipulation or modification, such as conjugation with a labeling or bioactive component.

The term “immunogenic or antigenic polypeptide” as used herein includes polypeptides that are immunologically active in the sense that once administered to the host, it is able to evoke an immune response of the humoral and/or cellular type directed against the protein. Preferably the protein fragment is such that it has substantially the same immunological activity as the total protein. Thus, a protein fragment according to the invention comprises or consists essentially of or consists of at least one epitope or antigenic determinant. An “immunogenic” protein or polypeptide, as used herein, includes the full-length sequence of the protein, analogs thereof, or immunogenic fragments thereof. By “immunogenic fragment” is meant a fragment of a protein which includes one or more epitopes and thus elicits the immunological response described above. Such fragments can be identified using any number of epitope mapping techniques, well known in the art. See, e.g., Epitope Mapping Protocols in Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 66 (Glenn E. Morris, Ed., 1996). For example, linear epitopes may be determined by e.g., concurrently synthesizing large numbers of peptides on solid supports, the peptides corresponding to portions of the protein molecule, and reacting the peptides with antibodies while the peptides are still attached to the supports. Such techniques are known in the art and described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,871; Geysen et al., 1984; Geysen et al., 1986. Similarly, conformational epitopes are readily identified by determining spatial conformation of amino acids such as by, e.g., x-ray crystallography and 2-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance. See, e.g., Epitope Mapping Protocols, supra. Methods especially applicable to the proteins of T. parva are fully described in PCT/US2004/022605 incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

As discussed herein, the invention encompasses active fragments and variants of the antigenic polypeptide. Thus, the term “immunogenic or antigenic polypeptide” further contemplates deletions, additions and substitutions to the sequence, so long as the polypeptide functions to produce an immunological response as defined herein. The term “conservative variation” denotes the replacement of an amino acid residue by another biologically similar residue, or the replacement of a nucleotide in a nucleic acid sequence such that the encoded amino acid residue does not change or is another biologically similar residue. In this regard, particularly preferred substitutions will generally be conservative in nature, i.e., those substitutions that take place within a family of amino acids. For example, amino acids are generally divided into four families: (1) acidic—aspartate and glutamate; (2) basic—lysine, arginine, histidine; (3) non-polar—alanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, phenylalanine, methionine, tryptophan; and (4) uncharged polar—glycine, asparagine, glutamine, cystine, serine, threonine, tyrosine. Phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine are sometimes classified as aromatic amino acids. Examples of conservative variations include the substitution of one hydrophobic residue such as isoleucine, valine, leucine or methionine for another hydrophobic residue, or the substitution of one polar residue for another polar residue, such as the substitution of arginine for lysine, glutamic acid for aspartic acid, or glutamine for asparagine, and the like; or a similar conservative replacement of an amino acid with a structurally related amino acid that will not have a major effect on the biological activity. Proteins having substantially the same amino acid sequence as the reference molecule but possessing minor amino acid substitutions that do not substantially affect the immunogenicity of the protein are, therefore, within the definition of the reference polypeptide. All of the polypeptides produced by these modifications are included herein. The term “conservative variation” also includes the use of a substituted amino acid in place of an unsubstituted parent amino acid provided that antibodies raised to the substituted polypeptide also immunoreact with the unsubstituted polypeptide.

The term “epitope” refers to the site on an antigen or hapten to which specific B cells and/or T cells respond. The term is also used interchangeably with “antigenic determinant” or “antigenic determinant site”. Antibodies that recognize the same epitope can be identified in a simple immunoassay showing the ability of one antibody to block the binding of another antibody to a target antigen.

An “immunological response” to a composition or vaccine is the development in the host of a cellular and/or antibody-mediated immune response to a composition or vaccine of interest. Usually, an “immunological response” includes but is not limited to one or more of the following effects: the production of antibodies, B cells, helper T cells, and/or cytotoxic T cells, directed specifically to an antigen or antigens included in the composition or vaccine of interest. Preferably, the host will display either a therapeutic or protective immunological response such that resistance to new infection will be enhanced and/or the clinical severity of the disease reduced. Such protection will be demonstrated by either a reduction or lack of symptoms and/or clinical disease signs normally displayed by an infected host, a quicker recovery time and/or a lowered viral titer in the infected host.

By “animal” is intended mammals, birds, and the like. Animal or host as used herein includes mammals and human. The animal may be selected from the group consisting of equine (e.g., horse), canine (e.g., dogs, wolves, foxes, coyotes, jackals), feline (e.g., lions, tigers, domestic cats, wild cats, other big cats, and other felines including cheetahs and lynx), ovine (e.g., sheep), bovine (e.g., cattle), porcine (e.g., pig), avian (e.g., chicken, duck, goose, turkey, quail, pheasant, parrot, finches, hawk, crow, ostrich, emu and cassowary), primate (e.g., prosimian, tarsier, monkey, gibbon, ape), ferrets, seals, and fish. The term “animal” also includes an individual animal in all stages of development, including newborn, embryonic and fetal stages.

Unless otherwise explained, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The singular terms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless context clearly indicates otherwise. Similarly, the word “or” is intended to include “and” unless the context clearly indicate otherwise.

It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims and/or paragraphs, terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, “comprising” and the like can have the meaning attributed to it in U.S. Patent law; e.g., they can mean “includes”, “included”, “including”, and the like; and that terms such as “consisting essentially of” and “consists essentially of” have the meaning ascribed to them in U.S. Patent law, e.g., they allow for elements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found in the prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of the invention.

The term “nucleic acid” and “polynucleotide” refers to RNA or DNA that is linear or branched, single or double stranded, or a hybrid thereof. The term also encompasses RNA/DNA hybrids. The following are non-limiting examples of polynucleotides: a gene or gene fragment, exons, introns, mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, ribozymes, cDNA, recombinant polynucleotides, branched polynucleotides, plasmids, vectors, isolated DNA of any sequence, isolated RNA of any sequence, nucleic acid probes and primers. A polynucleotide may comprise modified nucleotides, such as methylated nucleotides and nucleotide analogs, uracyl, other sugars and linking groups such as fluororibose and thiolate, and nucleotide branches. The sequence of nucleotides may be further modified after polymerization, such as by conjugation, with a labeling component. Other types of modifications included in this definition are caps, substitution of one or more of the naturally occurring nucleotides with an analog, and introduction of means for attaching the polynucleotide to proteins, metal ions, labeling components, other polynucleotides or solid support. The polynucleotides can be obtained by chemical synthesis or derived from a microorganism.

The term “gene” is used broadly to refer to any segment of polynucleotide associated with a biological function. Thus, genes include introns and exons as in genomic sequence, or just the coding sequences as in cDNAs and/or the regulatory sequences required for their expression. For example, gene also refers to a nucleic acid fragment that expresses mRNA or functional RNA, or encodes a specific protein, and which includes regulatory sequences.

An “isolated” biological component (such as a nucleic acid or protein or organelle) refers to a component that has been substantially separated or purified away from other biological components in the cell of the organism in which the component naturally occurs, for instance, other chromosomal and extra-chromosomal DNA and RNA, proteins, and organelles. Nucleic acids and proteins that have been “isolated” include nucleic acids and proteins purified by standard purification methods. The term also embraces nucleic acids and proteins prepared by recombinant technology as well as chemical synthesis.

The term “conservative variation” denotes the replacement of an amino acid residue by another biologically similar residue, or the replacement of a nucleotide in a nucleic acid sequence such that the encoded amino acid residue does not change or is another biologically similar residue. In this regard, particularly preferred substitutions will generally be conservative in nature, as described above.

The term “recombinant” means a polynucleotide with semisynthetic, or synthetic origin which either does not occur in nature or is linked to another polynucleotide in an arrangement not found in nature.

“Heterologous” means derived from a genetically distinct entity from the rest of the entity to which it is being compared. For example, a polynucleotide may be placed by genetic engineering techniques into a plasmid or vector derived from a different source, and is a heterologous polynucleotide. A promoter removed from its native coding sequence and operatively linked to a coding sequence other than the native sequence is a heterologous promoter.

The polynucleotides of the invention may comprise additional sequences, such as additional encoding sequences within the same transcription unit, controlling elements such as promoters, ribosome binding sites, 5′UTR, 3′UTR, transcription terminators, polyadenylation sites, additional transcription units under control of the same or a different promoter, sequences that permit cloning, expression, homologous recombination, and transformation of a host cell, and any such construct as may be desirable to provide embodiments of this invention.

Methods of Use and Article of Manufacture

The present invention includes the following method embodiments. In an embodiment, a method of vaccinating an animal comprising administering a composition comprising an attenuated M. haemolytica strain and a pharmaceutical or veterinarily acceptable carrier, excipient, or vehicle to an animal is disclosed. In one aspect of this embodiment, the animal is a bovine.

The dose volume of compositions for target species that are mammals, e.g., the dose volume of pig or swine compositions, based on bacterial antigens, is generally between about 0.1 to about 2.0 ml, between about 0.1 to about 1.0 ml, and between about 0.5 ml to about 1.0 ml.

The efficacy of the vaccines may be tested about 2 to 4 weeks after the last immunization by challenging animals, such as bovine, with a virulent strain of M. haemolytica. Both homologous and heterologous strains are used for challenge to test the efficacy of the vaccine. The animal may be challenged by IM or SC injection, spray, intra-nasally, intra-ocularly, intra-tracheally, and/or orally. Samples from joints, lungs, brain, and/or mouth may be collected before and post-challenge and may be analyzed for the presence of M. haemolytica-specific antibody.

The compositions comprising the attenuated bacterial strains of the invention used in the prime-boost protocols are contained in a pharmaceutically or veterinary acceptable vehicle, diluent or excipient. The protocols of the invention protect the animal from M. haemolytica and/or prevent disease progression in an infected animal.

The various administrations are preferably carried out 1 to 6 weeks apart. Preferred time interval is 3 to 5 weeks, and optimally 4 weeks according to one embodiment, an annual booster is also envisioned. The animals, for example pigs, may be at least 3-4 weeks of age at the time of the first administration.

It should be understood by one of skill in the art that the disclosure herein is provided by way of example and the present invention is not limited thereto. From the disclosure herein and the knowledge in the art, the skilled artisan can determine the number of administrations, the administration route, and the doses to be used for each injection protocol, without any undue experimentation.

Another embodiment of the invention is a kit for performing a method of eliciting or inducing an immunological or protective response against M. haemolytica in an animal comprising an attenuated M. haemolytica immunological composition or vaccine and instructions for performing the method of delivery in an effective amount for eliciting an immune response in the animal.

Another embodiment of the invention is a kit for performing a method of inducing an immunological or protective response against M. haemolytica in an animal comprising a composition or vaccine comprising an attenuated M. haemolytica strain of the invention, and instructions for performing the method of delivery in an effective amount for eliciting an immune response in the animal.

Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to a kit for prime-boost vaccination according to the present invention as described above. The kit may comprise at least two vials: a first vial containing a vaccine or composition for the prime-vaccination according to the present invention, and a second vial containing a vaccine or composition for the boost-vaccination according to the present invention. The kit may advantageously contain additional first or second vials for additional prime-vaccinations or additional boost-vaccinations.

The pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable carriers or vehicles or excipients are well known to the one skilled in the art. For example, a pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable carrier or vehicle or excipient can be a 0.9% NaCl (e.g., saline) solution or a phosphate buffer. Other pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable carrier or vehicle or excipients that can be used for methods of this invention include, but are not limited to, poly-(L-glutamate) or polyvinylpyrrolidone. The pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable carrier or vehicle or excipients may be any compound or combination of compounds facilitating the administration of the vector (or protein expressed from an inventive vector in vitro); advantageously, the carrier, vehicle or excipient may facilitate transfection and/or improve preservation of the vector (or protein). Doses and dose volumes are herein discussed in the general description and can also be determined by the skilled artisan from this disclosure read in conjunction with the knowledge in the art, without any undue experimentation.

The immunological compositions and vaccines according to the invention may comprise or consist essentially of one or more adjuvants. Suitable adjuvants for use in the practice of the present invention are (1) polymers of acrylic or methacrylic acid, maleic anhydride and alkenyl derivative polymers, (2) immunostimulating sequences (ISS), such as oligodeoxyribonucleotide sequences having one or more non-methylated CpG units (Klinman et al., 1996; WO98/16247), (3) an oil in water emulsion, such as the SPT emulsion described on page 147 of “Vaccine Design, The Subunit and Adjuvant Approach” published by M. Powell, M. Newman, Plenum Press 1995, and the emulsion MF59 described on page 183 of the same work, (4) cationic lipids containing a quaternary ammonium salt, e.g., DDA (5) cytokines, (6) aluminum hydroxide or aluminum phosphate, (7) saponin or (8) other adjuvants discussed in any document cited and incorporated by reference into the instant application, or (9) any combinations or mixtures thereof.

In an embodiment, adjuvants include those which promote improved absorption through mucosal linings. Some examples include MPL, LTK63, toxins, PLG microparticles and several others (Vajdy, M. Immunology and Cell Biology (2004) 82, 617-627). In an embodiment, the adjuvant may be a chitosan (Van der Lubben et al. 2001; Patel et al. 2005; Majithiya et al. 2008; U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,912).

In an embodiment, the adjuvant may be inactivated bacteria, an inactivated virus, fractions of inactivated bacteria, bacterial lipopolysaccharides, bacterial toxins, or derivatives or

REFERENCES

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The invention will now be further described by way of the following non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Production of Attenuated M. haemolytica

M. haemolytica is a commensal organism of the upper respiratory tract of calves and other ruminants. Under stress and in immunocompromised animals M. haemolytica descends into lungs and causes severe systemic disease resulting in pneumonic pasteurellosis or “shipping fever”. The pathogen can be spread by nose to nose contact. To attenuate the bacterium, we deleted nucleotides within the LktCA locus, which encodes an enzyme acylase (LktC) and leukotoxin A (LktA), the bacterium's chief cytotoxin. This deletion can be amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the secretion of a truncated LktA can be detected on a Western blot to determine if the bacterium is the mutant or wildtype. The genetic engineering is summarized in FIGS. 1-3. All reagents, including the shuttle vectors pCR2.1, pBC SK, pSK, and pCT109GA189 is ori, and the E. coli DH11S host cell, are well-known to and accessible by persons skilled in the art.

Construction of lktCA Deletion.

pCT109GA189-KanΔlktCA and pCT109GA189-KanΔlktCA-rbs were constructed as outlined in FIGS. 1-3. Briefly, two DNA fragments, upstream (1.06 kb, SEQ ID NO:6) and downstream (1.29 kb, SEQ ID NO:7) were PCR amplified from M. haemolytica strain NADC D153 (FIG. 1). Whole cells were used as template using the primer sets, lktCAf (SEQ ID NO:1)/lktCAdelr (SEQ ID NO:4) and lktCAr (SEQ ID NO:2)/lktCAdelf (SEQ ID NO:3). The PCR products were phenol-chloroform-extracted to inactivate Taq polymerase and then digested with MunI prior to ligation. The ligation products were PCR amplified with primer pair lktCAf/lktCAr and the products were cloned using a commercially available vector (PCR2.1, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) according to manufacturer instructions.

A product containing an approximately 2.3 kb insert was selected and proper sequence across the deletion was confirmed by DNA sequencing and designated pTAΔlktCA. A kanamycin cassette derived from pUC4K was placed into the SalI site of pBC SK- (Stratagene Inc.) to generate pBCKan. The 2.3 kb deleted leukotoxin insert in pTAΔlktCA was transferred into pBCKan by digestion with EcoRI and ligation into the unique EcoRI site to form pBCKanΔlktCA. This product was amplified by PCR using primer pair lktCAdelf (SEQ ID NO:3) and lktRBSr (SEQ ID NO:5) to replace the native lktC ribosome binding site (RBS) with a consensus RBS (FIG. 1). The product was digested with MunI and ligated onto itself to form pBCKanΔlktCArbs. Proper sequence adjacent to the deletion was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Finally the pBC plasmid backbone of both pBCKanΔlktCA and pBCKanΔlktCArbs was replaced with the temperature-sensitive plasmid origin of replication from pCT109GA189 (Briggs and Tatum, 2005) by ligating BssHII-digested preparations of each to generate pCT109GA189KanΔlktCA and pCT109GA189KanΔlktCArbs.

Electrocompetent M. haemolytica serotype A1 D153 cells (virulent parental strain) were transformed with pCT109GA189KanΔlktCA and pCT109GA189KanΔlktCArbs by previously described methods except unmethylated ligation product was directly introduced into the competent cells. (Briggs and Tatum, 2005) Briefly, cells were made electrocompetent by growing them to logarithmic phase in 100 ml of Columbia broth (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) at 37° C. with gentle shaking. The cells were pelleted by centrifugation at 5,000 μg and washed in 100 ml of 272 mM sucrose at 0° C., and the pellet was suspended in an equal volume of 272 mM sucrose at 0° C. After electroporation, cells recovered overnight in 10 ml Columbia broth at 30° C. Growth (50 μl) was spread onto Columbia agar plates containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin, which were then incubated 36 hours at 30° C. Individual colonies were passed to broth containing 50 μg/ml kanamycin and incubated overnight at 30° C. Growth (100 μl) was passed again to Columbia agar plates with kanamycin which were incubated overnight at 39° C. Individual colonies were passed to trypticase soy agar (TSA) plates containing 5% defibrinated sheep blood (BA plates, incubated overnight at 39° C.) and to Columbia broth without selection (incubated overnight at 30° C.). Growth in broth was streaked for isolation on BA plates and passed again in broth at 30° C. Non-hemolytic colonies which were kanamycin-sensitive were detected on BA plates after 1 to 3 passages without selection. Representative colonies from each recipient strain and replacement plasmid were selected for further study.

Because the temperature-sensitive plasmid origin functions poorly in E. coli cloning hosts, these final ligation products were introduced directly into M. haemolytica. Prior cloning steps used E. coli DH11S (Life Technologies, Rockville, Md.) as the cloning host.

Non-hemolytic mutants were grown in Columbia broth at 37° C. for 3 hours and harvested in late logarithmic growth. Supernatants were dotted onto nitrocellulose along with supernatants from the wild-type parent and a leukotoxin-negative isogenic mutant. After appropriate blocking and washing, the blot was probed with monoclonal anti-leukotoxin antibody 2C9-1E8 (neutralizing antibody produced by NADC, Ames, Iowa). Mutant products containing the native ribosome binding site were found to express low levels of protein reactive to monoclonal antibody, less than that produced by the wild-type parent strain. Products which contained the new ribosome binding site produced much higher levels of reactive protein. Supernatants of two products expressing high levels of leukotoxin were concentrated 15-fold on a 10,000 MW filter (Centriprep, Amicon). The concentrates (1.5 μl) were subjected to SDS-PAGE, blotted to nitrocellulose, and probed with antibody 2C9-1E8. Western blot analysis indicated a new protein reactive with neutralizing anti-leukotoxin monoclonal antibody at an apparent molecular weight consistent with the 27 kDa predicted protein (truncated LktA) product. These representative mutants and single-crossover controls were analyzed by PCR to demonstrate the absence of temperature-sensitive origin and kanamycin-resistance cassette (Step G). The mutant M. haemolytica serotype A1 was designated as D153ΔlktCA4-707, which refers to the amino acid positions in LktC and LktA respectively where the deleted region begins and ends. Gene insertion was characterized by PCR amplification using LktCAf (SEQ ID NO:1) and LktCAr (SEQ ID NO:2) primers, which flank the deletion site. As indicated by the gel image, PCR amplification yielded the expected ˜2.3 kb for truncated LktCA, and ˜5.0 kb for the wildtype bacterium (FIG. 4A). Finally, PCR performed with primers (SEQ ID NOs:1 & 2) flanking is on and kanamycin resistance genes confirmed those elements were no longer present in the final LktCA mutant for Master Seed (MS). Five microliters of the concentrated culture supernatant was run on a SDS-PAGE system, blotted onto PVDF membrane and probed using mouse anti-LktA, neutralizing antibody 2C9-1E8 (1:1000) as primary antibody. Goat anti-mouse IgG (1:4000) coupled with alkaline phosphatase was used as secondary antibody and developed in a substrate solution containing NBT/BCIP for 1-5 min (FIG. 4B). The lack of functional acylase prevents the activation of LktA, and furthermore, the N-terminal deletion of LktA prevents it from forming pores on host animal neutrophils or macrophages.

Example 2 Efficacy of Attenuated M. haemolytica in Calves

Calves were randomly assigned to one of three groups, each receiving either 10⁶ or 10⁷ CFU of the MH A1+A6 vaccine, or the control RPMI (diluent). Lyophilized Mannheimia haemolytica (MH) serotypes A1 and A6 were resuspended and administered intranasally, 1 mL to each nostril, of nine calves, aged 5-6 weeks. The calves were observed for feed intake and rectal temperatures taken morning and evening for 3 days post vaccination. Nasal colonization of M. haemolytica A1 and A6 following vaccination was analyzed by RT-QPCR (differentiated among M. haemolytica A1 and A6 throughout the study). Vaccines were plated on TSA for exact CFU/ml count on each vaccine the following day.

Challenge.

A fresh glycerol stock of virulent MH A1 was grown O/N in BHI medium, plated (TSA) the next day and incubated at 37° C. The following day, plates were scraped and diluted into RPMI medium supplemented with 2% inactivated fetal bovine serum. The inoculum was grown at 37° C./200 rpm until desired OD₆₀₀ was achieved, and the culture was diluted to the desired CFU/challenge dose and dilution plated to enumerate the exact CFU/ml the following day. The remaining inoculum was immediately dilution plated in the lab. Calves were challenged on DAY via trans-tracheal administration of 2.4×10⁹ CFU in 20 ml RPMI, chased with 60 ml RPMI. The calves were monitored for change in behavior including lethargy, coughing, nasal discharge and scored as shown in Table 3. Rectal temperatures were monitored for calves showing clinical signs. The lungs were scored for pneumonic lesions and recorded as % lesion on each lobe, and lung tissue was also collected for histopathology. Swabs were taken from lung lesions and trachea to recover the challenge organism. Table 1 presents the study schedule.

TABLE 1 Study schedule Age Day Event 5-6 0 Day 0- Bleed, Swab and vaccinate intra-nasally weeks 7 7 days post vax-Bleed and swab old 14 14 days post vax-Bleed and swab 21 21 days post vax-Bleed and swab 22 22 days post vax-Bleed, swab & Challenge with M. haemolytica A1 22-29 Observe clinical signs starting 8/7, euthanize any calves if necessary. Euthanize and necropsy all on 8/13 *Calves were observed for feed intake and rectal temperatures (morning/evening) for 3 days, post vaccination. Samples from each calf were tested using whole cell, Lkt ELISA and RT-QPCR.

TABLE 2 Clinical signs criteria 0 = Normal 1 = Depression, Anorexia, Cough, Nasal Discharge, Dyspnea 2 = Severely Depressed, Unable to Rise or Walk, Euthanized for Humane Reasons 3 = Dead On Arrival (DOA)

Results.

Three days post challenge one of the control calves showed severe signs of pneumonia and was euthanized (36.92% typical M. haemolytica lesions). The remaining 8 calves were euthanized on day 6 and their percent lung involvement is described in Table 3. The results clearly indicate that the vaccine affords protection when administered intranasally. As indicated in table 4 intranasal vaccination of M. haemolytica A1/A6 combo significantly reduced (62.0% and 76.7% for 6 log and 7 log group respectively) the lung lesions when compared to sham. Furthermore, histopathological analysis clearly indicated typical necrotizing bronchopneumonia characteristic of M. haemolytica.

TABLE 4 Average Average % Lung lung reduction in Animal Actual vaccine dose lesion lesion lung lesion # A1/A6 CFU/animal (%) (%) compared to sham 125 1.19 × 10⁶/9.2 × 10⁵ 24.03* 176 1.19 × 10⁶/9.2 × 10⁵ 0.0 188 1.19 × 10⁶/9.2 × 10⁵ 6.40 10.43 62.0 179 1.19 × 10⁷/9.2 × 10⁶ 0.87 185 1.19 × 10⁷/9.2 × 10⁶ 1.837 189 1.19 × 10⁷/9.2 × 10⁶ 14.91* 6.48 76.7 122 Sham 8.85 177 Sham 37.75 182 Sham 36.92 27.84 *The lesions (gross pathology) were due to typical Mycoplasma bovis chronic infection

Example 3 Development of RT-QPCR Method for Distinguishing Between A1/A6 Serotypes

The efficacy of intranasal colonization of M. haemolytica A1/A6 was followed during the course of experiment by a novel QPCR method. Briefly, the genomes of above-described A1 and A6 serotype bacteria were compared against one A1 and two A2 genomes available in GenBank. The comparison revealed 63 genes specific for A1 (D153) and 42 genes specific for A6 (D174). Out of these 105 genes we picked a S6 family IgA-specific metalloendopeptidase (SEQ ID NO:14) specific for A1 and BCCT family betaine/carnitine/choline transporter gene (SEQ ID NO:12) specific for A6 respectively for differential real time PCR. These gene sequences were amplified by using gene specific primers, sequenced by standard Sanger method and verified. Next, we designed real time PCR primers and tagged the probes with two different dyes (A1-5′6 FAM/ZEN/3 and A6-5′Cy5/3′IBRQ) within each gene. To verify the efficacy our assay method we picked M. haemolytica colonies from nasal swabs obtained from calves maintained in our facilities 7 days post vaccination. The individual colonies were amplified by multiplex real time colony PCR using QuantiTect Probe PCR kit mastermix (Qiagen) following the manufacturer's instruction in a MX3000P qPCR machine (Stratagene). A1 and A6 colonies verified by serotyping were used as positive controls for multiplex real time quantitative PCR (RT-QPCR). The ct values were set at machine default setting and each colony verified by multiplex real time PCR was confirmed by leukotoxin (LktA) specific PCR. The RT-QPCR results 7 days post vaccination indicated a preferential colonization of A1 over A6 (Table 5), which was further confirmed by leukotoxin gene specific deletion PCR (Table 6). But 14 and 21 days post vaccination indicated essentially exclusive colonization of A1 (Tables 7 & 8).

TABLE 5 RT-QPCR results for nasal swabs from D 7 Post Vaccination ID A1 A6 ΔLkt 151-1 17 11 + 151-2 15 — + 151-3 16 — + 151-4 17 — + 151-5 15 — + 154-1 — — 154-2 — 39 154-3 — — 154-4 — — 154-5 — 22 157-1 15 — + 157-2 22 — + 157-3 17 — + 157-4 15 33 + 157-5 16 — + 160-1 18 13 + 160-2 — 12 + 160-3 — 12 + 160-4 — 12 + 160-5 — 11 + 178-1 — — 178-2 — — 178-3 — — 178-4 — 24 178-5 — 31 181-1 15 15 + 181-2 17 — + 181-3 — 13 + 181-4 17 — + 181-5 15 — + 183-1 16 12 + 183-2 — 35 183-3 17 — + 183-4 16 — + 183-5 — 17 + 186-1 — 42 186-2 — 43 186-3 — — 186-4 — — 186-5 — 20 190-1 — — 190-2 — — 190-3 — 10 190-4 — — 190-5 — — 193-1 15 38 + 193-2 15 — + 193-3 — 36 193-4 16 20 + 193-5 — — A1 mut. Vx 15 — + A6 mut. Vx — 11 + Neg — —

TABLE 6 PCR results for nasal swabs from D 7 Post Vaccination ID/colony A1 A6 Lkt Δ ~2300 bp 122-1 — — 122-2 — — 122-3 — — 122-4 — — 122-5 — — 125-1 16 — + Y 125-2 17 — + Y 125-3 17 — + Y 125-4 16 — + Y 125-5 17 — + Y 176-1 17 — + Y 176-2 17 — + Y 176-3 16 — + Y 176-4 16 — + Y 176-5 16 — + Y 177-1 — — 177-2 — — 177-3 — — 177-4 — — 177-5 — — 179-1 17 — + Y 179-2 16 — + Y 179-3 — — 179-4 16 — + Y 179-5 29 — + Y 182-1 — — 182-2 — — 182-3 — — 182-4 — — 182-5 — — 185-1 — 15 + Y 185-2 18 — + Y 185-3 16 — + Y 185-4 — — + Y 185-5 22 — + Y 188-1 — — 188-2 — — 188-3 — — 188-4 — — 188-5 — — 189-1 16 — + Y 189-2 16 — + Y 189-3 21 — + Y 189-4 16 — + Y 189-5 17 — + Neg — —

TABLE 7 PCR results for nasal swabs from D 14 Post Vaccination ID-colony # A1 A6 Lkt Δ PCR Lkt Δ 122-1 (Con. 0 0 Neg 122-2 (Con. 0 0 Neg 122-3 (Con. 0 0 Neg 125-1 (6 log) 15 0 Pos Y 125-2 (6 log) 16 0 Pos Y 125-3 (6 log) 16 0 Pos Y 176-1 (6 log) 0 0 Neg 176-2 (6 log) 0 0 Neg 176-3 (6 log) 0 0 Neg 177-1 (Con. 0 0 Neg 177-2 (Con. 0 0 Neg 177-3 (Con. 0 0 Neg 179-1 (7 log) 0 0 Neg 179-2 (7 log) 0 0 Neg 179-3 (7 log) 0 0 Neg 182-1 (Con.) 0 0 Neg 182-2 (Con.) 0 0 Neg 182-3 (Con.) 0 0 Neg 185-1 (7 log) 0 0 Neg 185-2 (7 log) 0 0 Neg 185-3 (7 log) 0 0 Neg 188-1 (6 log) 0 0 Neg 188-2 (6 log) 0 0 Neg 188-3 (6 log) 0 0 Neg 189-1 (7 log) 15 0 Pos Y 189-2 (7 log) 15 0 Pos Y 189-3 (7 log) 15 0 Pos Y A1 Mutant Pos 15 0 Pos Y A6 Mutant Pos 0 16 Pos Y Neg Con. 0 0 Neg

TABLE 8 PCR results for nasal swabs from D 21 Post Vaccination ID-colony # A1 A6 Lkt Δ PCR Lkt Δ 122-1 (Con.) 0 0 Δ 122-2 (Con.) 0 0 122-3 (Con.) 0 0 125-1 (6 log 14 0 + Y 125-2 (6 log 15 0 + Y 125-3 (6 log 15 0 + Y 176-1 (6 log 15 0 + Y 176-2 (6 log 15 0 + Y 176-3 (6 log 15 0 + Y 177-1 (Con.) 0 0 177-2 (Con.) 0 0 177-3 (Con.) 0 0 179-1 (7 log 0 0 179-2 (7 log 0 0 179-3 (7 log 0 0 182-1 (Con.) 0 0 182-2 (Con.) 0 0 182-3 (Con.) 0 0 185-1 (7 log) 15 0 + Y 185-2 (7 log) 14 0 + Y 185-3 (7 log) 15 0 + Y 188-1 (6 log) 14 0 + Y 188-2 (6 log) 15 0 + Y 188-3 (6 log) 14 0 + Y 189-1 (7 log) 16 0 + Y 189-2 (7 log) 17 0 + Y 189-3 (7 log) 15 0 + Y A1 Mutant Pos 15 0 + Y A6 Mutant Pos 0 16 + Y Neg Control 0 0 neg Pre Challenge A1 Wt 15 0 + WT Post Challenge A1 Wt 16 0 + WT

Example 3 Intranasal Vaccination of Calves Using Mannheimia haemolytica A1 & A6 Vaccines Followed by Virulent Challenge

Fifteen calves, 4 weeks of age and housed in 3 different pens/5 calves per pen, were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups. Calves were vaccinated intranasally with modified live Mannheimia haemolytica serotypes A1 and A6 (reconstituted from lyophilized. Table 9), and intranasal colonization of A1 and A6 was monitored by real time PCR. Calves were finally challenged with virulent M. haemolytica A6 (wild type) to determine vaccine efficacy.

TABLE 9 Treatment Groups. Total Dose/CFU Route/ Calf Group Treatment per animal volume Id # 1 M. haemolytica 10⁷ (1.43 × 10⁶ + Intranasal 2, 4, 6 A1 + A6 8.63 × 10⁵)* 1 ml per 8, 10 nostril 2 M. haemolytica 10⁸ (1.43 × 10⁷ + Intranasal 1, 3, 5, A1 + A6 8.63 × 10⁶)* 1 ml per 7, 9 nostril 3 Control- control Intranasal 162, 166, Lyophilized 1 ml per 170, 174, RPMI + nostril 175 stabilizer *Actual CFU/ml based on plate count

Vaccination.

Lyophilized cultures of M. haemolytica A1 and A6 were enumerated from a batch stored at 4° C. On vaccination day, the vaccines were diluted in RPMI (colorless) to required CFU/ml for each isolate. Similarly, the sham vaccine (lyophilized RPMI in stabilizer) was diluted in RPMI. The vaccines were plated on TSA to determine the exact CFU/ml count on each vaccine the following day. The vaccines were mixed and administered 1 ml/nostril using a repeat syringe attached with a cannula according to the dose in Table 9. The control group was vaccinated first, followed by the lowest to highest log group. Following vaccination, the samples were collected as described in Table 10, and the calves were observed for feed intake and rectal temperatures taken morning and evening for 3 days post vaccination. Nasal colonization of M. haemolytica A1 and A6 following vaccination was analyzed by Q-PCR as described above.

M. haemolytica A6 Challenge Culture.

A fresh glycerol stock of M. haemolytica A6 was grown 0/N in BHI medium, plated (TSA) the next day and incubated at 37° C. The following day, plates were scraped and diluted into RPMI medium supplemented with 2% inactivated fetal bovine serum. The inoculum was grown at 37° C./200 rpm until desired OD₆₀₀ was achieved. The culture was diluted to desired CFU/challenge dose and dilution plated to enumerate the exact CFU/ml the following day. The inoculum was transported on ice and kept on ice during challenge, and administered trans-tracheally using a 14 G×1 inch needle. The dose was 1.09×10⁹ CFU/animal in 20 ml RPMI, chased with 60 ml RPMI. Once completed, the remaining inoculum was immediately dilution plated. The calves were monitored for behavior changes including lethargy, coughing, and nasal discharge and scored as shown in Table 11. Rectal temperatures were monitored for calves showing clinical signs. The lungs were scored for pneumonic lesions and recorded as % lesion on each lobe, and tissues were collected for histopathology. Swabs were also taken from lungs (lesions) and trachea to recover the challenge organism.

TABLE 10 Study Schedule. Age Date Event 4 0 Day 0- Bleed, Swab and vaccinate intra-nasally weeks 7 days 7 days post vax-Bleed and swab old post vax 15 days 15 days post vax-Bleed and swab & Challenge with post vax M. haemolytica A6 15 to Observe clinical signs starting day 15; euthanized 20 days any calves when necessary. Euthanized and necropsy post vax all on day 20 * Feed intake (daily) and rectal temperatures (twice daily) were monitored for 3 days post vaccination.

TABLE 11 Clinical signs. Criteria for Post Challenge Observations 0 = Normal 1 = Depression, Anorexia, Cough, Nasal Discharge, Dyspnea 2 = Severely Depressed, Unable to Rise or Walk, Euthanized for Humane Reasons 3 = Dead On Arrival (DOA)

Results.

Two days post challenge calf #5 and 174 showed severe signs of pneumonia and were euthanized. Calf #7 died on day 3, post challenge. The remaining 12 calves were euthanized on day 5 and their % lung involvement is described in table 4. The results indicate that 80% of vaccinates were protected by the modified live M. haemolytica A1/A6 vaccine. From the 7 log group, three (1, 3 and 9) animals were protected while the other two animals (5, 7) had significantly large lesions compared to controls. The large lesions could have been caused by an existing Mannheimia, mycoplasma or viral infection, which had been exacerbated by challenge. Overall, 80% of vaccinates (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10) had significantly (89.55% reduction) reduced lung lesion as compared to control, and histopathological analysis indicated typical necrotizing bronchopneumonia in the control animals.

TABLE 12 Dosage groups. Average % Average reduction in Actual A1/A6 Lung lung lung lesion Animal vaccine dose lesion lesion compared to Group # CFU/animal (%) (%) sham vaccine 10⁷ 2 1.43 × 10⁶/ 0.0 8.63 × 10⁵ 4 1.43 × 10⁶/ 8.67 8.63 × 10⁵ 6 1.43 × 10⁶/ 5.92 8.63 × 10⁵ 8 1.43 × 10⁶/ 4.83 8.63 × 10⁵ 10 1.43 × 10⁶/ 0.0 3.88 85.04 8.63 × 10⁵ 10⁸ 1 1.43 × 10⁷/ 0.0 8.63 × 10⁶ 3 1.43 × 10⁷/ 0.0 8.63 × 10⁶ 5 1.43 × 10⁷/ 41.58 8.63 × 10⁶ 7 1.43 × 10⁷/ 64.47 8.63 × 10⁶ 9 1.43 × 10⁷/ 2.295 21.66 14.47 8.63 × 10⁶ 162 Sham 37.11 166 Sham 29.82 170 Sham 11.235 174 Sham 25.54 175 Sham 25.97 25.93

The efficacy of intranasal colonization of M. haemolytica A1/A6 was followed during the course of experiment by above-described QPCR methods. Results for 7 and 15 days post-vaccination indicated vaccinates had a preferential colonization of A1 over A6 which was further confirmed by leukotoxin gene specific deletion PCR (Tables 13 & 14).

TABLE 13 Day 7 Post Vaccination Sample # Animal # FAM MHA1 MHA1? CY5 MHA6 MHA6? 1 1 No Ct 16.5  + 2 1 No Ct 38.26 + 3 1 No Ct 16.53 + 4 1 No Ct 25   + 5 2 No Ct No Ct 6 2 No Ct No Ct 7 2 No Ct No Ct 8 2 17.01 + No Ct 9 3 No Ct 15.87 + 10 3 25.11 + 20.81 + 11 3 21.91 + 19.69 + 12 3 22.35 + 21.8  + 13 4 16.52 + No Ct 14 4 17.11 + No Ct 15 4 16.26 + No Ct 16 4 16   + No Ct 17 5 39.07 + 41.17*Plot was bad~NEG 18 5 15.98 + No Ct 19 5 16.4  + No Ct 20 5 16.44 + No Ct 21 6 17.08 + No Ct 22 6 18.24 + No Ct 23 6 16.8  + No Ct 24 6 17.94 + No Ct 25 7 17.98 + No Ct 26 7 No Ct 16.34 + 27 7 26.57 + 15.46 + 28 7 16.7  + 17.52 + 29 8 16.7  + No Ct 30 8 16.71 + No Ct 31 8 16.1  + No Ct 32 8 15.16 + No Ct 33 9 16.32 + No Ct 34 9 17.03 + No Ct 35 9 16.63 + No Ct 36 9 16.04 + No Ct 37 10 No Ct No Ct 38 10 No Ct No Ct 39 10 No Ct No Ct 40 10 No Ct No Ct 41 162 No Ct No Ct 42 162 No Ct No Ct 43 162 No Ct No Ct 44 162 No Ct No Ct 45 166 No Ct No Ct 46 166 No Ct No Ct 47 166 No Ct No Ct 48 166 No Ct No Ct 49 170 No Ct No Ct 50 170 No Ct No Ct 51 170 No Ct No Ct 52 170 No Ct No Ct 53 174 No Ct No Ct 54 174 No Ct No Ct 55 174 No Ct No Ct 56 174 No Ct No Ct 57 175 No Ct No Ct 58 175 No Ct No Ct 59 175 No Ct No Ct 60 175 No Ct No Ct 61 A1 mut+ 16.66 No Ct 62 A6 mut+ No Ct 13.85 63 A1 Wt+ 15.87 No Ct 64 Neg 40.77 No Ct

TABLE 14 Day 15 Post Vaccination Animal # FAM MHA1 MHA1? CY5 MHA6 MHA6? Lkt del PCR 1 No Ct 40.53 1 No Ct No Ct 1 No Ct No Ct 1 No Ct No Ct 1 No Ct No Ct 2 No Ct No Ct 2 No Ct No Ct 2 No Ct No Ct 2 No Ct No Ct 2 No Ct No Ct 3 No Ct 15.1  + Mutant 3 No Ct 15.08 + Mutant 3 No Ct 15.19 + Mutant 3 No Ct 15.3  + Mutant 3 No Ct 15.1  + Mutant 4 15.82 No Ct Mutant 4 No Ct No Ct 4 No Ct No Ct 4 No Ct No Ct 4 No Ct No Ct 5 16.13 + No Ct Mutant 5 15.27 + No Ct Mutant 5 17.03 + No Ct Mutant 5 16.49 + No Ct Mutant 5 18.06 + No Ct Mutant 6 No Ct No Ct 6 No Ct No Ct 6 No Ct No Ct 6 40.05 No Ct 6 No Ct No Ct 7 No Ct 16.83 + Mutant 7 No Ct No Ct + 7 No Ct 14.92 + Mutant 7 No Ct 15.21 + Mutant 7 No Ct 16.16 + Mutant 8 No Ct No Ct 8 No Ct No Ct 8 No Ct No Ct 8 No Ct No Ct 8 No Ct No Ct 9 No Ct No Ct 9 No Ct No Ct 9 No Ct No Ct 9 No Ct No Ct 9 No Ct No Ct 10 15.94 + No Ct Mutant 10 No Ct + No Ct 10 No Ct + No Ct 10 23.82 + No Ct Mutant 10 30.04 + No Ct Mutant 162 No Ct No Ct 162 No Ct No Ct 162 No Ct No Ct 162 No Ct No Ct 162 No Ct No Ct 166 No Ct No Ct 166 No Ct No Ct 166 No Ct No Ct 166 No Ct No Ct 166 No Ct No Ct 170 No Ct No Ct 170 No Ct No Ct 170 No Ct No Ct 170 No Ct No Ct 170 No Ct No Ct 174 No Ct No Ct 174 No Ct No Ct 174 No Ct No Ct 174 No Ct No Ct 174 No Ct No Ct 175 16.24 + No Ct Mutant 175 No Ct + No Ct 175 16.54 + No Ct Mutant 175 No Ct + No Ct Mutant 175 23.06 + No Ct Mutant

Having thus described in detail preferred embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that the invention defined by the above paragraphs is not to be limited to particular details set forth in the above description as many apparent variations thereof are possible without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An attenuated Mannheimia haemolytica (M. haemolytica) strain capable of providing a safe and effective immune response in a bovine against M. haemolytica or diseases caused by M. haemolytica.
 2. The strain of claim 1 having nucleic acid deletions in one or more virulence gene(s) relative to a virulent parental M. haemolytica strain.
 3. The strain of claim 2 wherein the gene is a leukotoxin.
 4. The strain of claim 3 wherein the gene is leukotoxin A.
 5. The strain of claim 2 wherein the deletion results in a protein having a sequence encoded by the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:16 or
 17. 6. An immunological composition comprising the attenuated strain of any of claims 1 to
 5. 7. The composition of claim 6 further comprising a pharmaceutically or veterinary acceptable vehicle, diluent or excipient.
 8. The composition of claim 8 further comprising an adjuvant.
 9. The composition of claim 9 wherein the adjuvant is inactivated bacteria, inactivated virus, fractions of inactivated bacteria, bacterial lipopolysaccharides, bacterial toxins, or derivatives or combinations thereof.
 10. The composition of claim 6 which provides a protective immune response in bovine against virulent M. haemolytica challenge.
 11. The composition of any one of claims 8 to 10 further comprising at least one additional antigen associated with a pathogen other than M. haemolytica.
 12. The composition of claim 11 wherein the at least one or more additional antigen(s) is capable of eliciting in a bovine an immune response against M. haemolytica and other pathogen capable of infecting and causing illness or susceptibility to illness in a bovine.
 13. A method of vaccinating an animal comprising at least one administration of the composition of any one of claims 6-12.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the animal is a bovine.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the bovine is a calf that is 28 days or older.
 16. A live gene-deleted bacteria, to be used in combination with P. multocida, M. haemolytica and H. somni for the prevention of bovine respiratory disease caused by M. haemolytica, H. somni, and P. multocida in calves 28 days and older.
 17. The method of claim 13 wherein the vaccine is administered intranasally.
 18. A deletion mutant bacterium having a deletion within the LktCA gene locus encoding acylase (LktC) and leukotoxinA (LktA).
 19. The deletion mutant of claim 17, which secretes a truncated form a LktA having an amino acid sequence encoded by the sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:16 or
 17. 20. The deletion mutant of claim 17, which is attenuated relative to virulent wildtype parental bacterium, and wherein the parental bacterium is capable of causing typical Fibrinous pleuropneumoniae in the lungs of affected cattle, and having the designation serotype A1 D153.
 21. The deletion mutant of claim 18, which replicates primarily in a bovine's nasal passages to produce an immune response.
 22. The deletion mutant of claim 21 wherein no shedding is observed in the animal's feces, saliva, or other body fluids.
 23. The deletion mutant of claim 21 which causes no prolonged itching or irritation at the site of inoculation. 